Bachmann: It’s All Chris Matthews’ Fault! ‘He Laid A Trap, And I Walked Into It’»

Think Progress » Bachmann: It’s All Chris Matthews’ Fault! ‘He Laid A Trap, And I Walked Into It’

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is still on the defensive from an appearance last Friday on MSNBC’s Hardball, in which she called for the media to conduct a “penetrating exposé” into anti-American views of members of Congress.

Speaking with the St. Cloud Times on Tuesday, Bachmann said she regretted suggesting
that Barack Obama held “anti-American” views. Referencing
Chris Matthews by name 12 times in a 6 minute interview, Bachmann
portrayed herself as the victim of a clever ploy devised by the MSNBC
host:

Chris Matthews laid a trap, and I walked into it. […]

Chris Matthews was using the term over and over, and I should not have used it. […]

This was Chris Matthews. I made a big mistake by going on the show. I never should have. […]

I just didn’t recognize — I never watched the
Chris Matthews show before. I should have before I went on. I
didn’t recognize that he would lay a trap the way that he did.

Bachmann concluded the interview by circling back to where she
began: “I didn’t bring the word choice up. That was Chris
Matthews who brought the word choice up. Unfortunately, like I said, I
walked into a trap.”

Bachmann, who appears frequently on Fox News,
apparently doesn’t understand that journalists on other networks
sometimes ask critical questions. The issue isn’t Matthews’
questions; it’s Bachmann’s answers. Here’s key
portions from the transcript:

MATTHEWS: So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti- American views.

REP. BACHMANN: Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.

[…]

MATTHEWS: What parts of America would you say are anti-American? What parts of this country?

REP. BACHMANN: Well, I would say that people who hold anti- American views. I don’t think it’s geography. I think it’s people who don’t like America, who detest America.

[…]

MATTHEWS: How many do you suspect of your colleagues as being anti-American?

REP. BACHMANN: What I would say — what I would say is that the
news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I
wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great
look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they
pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an
exposé like that.

Bachmann’s biggest disappointment must be that she wishes she hadn’t been so honest about her true feelings.